This essay is a review of the biblical account of Exodus and its possible correlation with the history of Egypt. Interpretations of Egyptian texts, ancient documents and the Pentateuch of the Bible shed new light on the stay of the People of Israel in Egypt and their epic departure led by Moses. Was the Exodus a historical event? When did it happen? In this essay, the story of Exodus and its background in the book of Genesis are critically analyzed, as well as the genealogy of Abraham's family, that of James-Israel and his descendants; the history of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period (1780-1560 B.C.); and the archaeological findings in the Eastern Delta of Egypt, to propose a tenable (historically feasible) theory about the Israelite stay in Egypt and the Exodus, complemented by a summary of their long dwelling in the desert and the conquest of Canaan. RESUMEN Este ensayo es una revisión del relato bíblico del Éxodo y su posible correlación con la historia de Egipto. Interpretaciones de textos egipcios, antiguos documentos y el Pentateuco de la Biblia arrojan nueva luz sobre la estancia del Pueblo de Israel en Egipto y su épica salida conducida por Moisés. ¿Fue el Éxodo un evento histórico? ¿Cuándo ocurrió? En este ensayo se analiza críticamente el relato del Éxodo y sus antecedentes en el libro de

The absence of indisputable direct evidence for the Exodus has led many scholars to deny its historicity. However, although the archaeological record represents an undeniable challenge to traditional interpretations of the Biblical record, there is sufficient evidence to convince even skeptical archaeologists that the Scriptural account describes a genuine historical exodus event.

The absence of indisputable direct evidence for the Exodus has led many scholars to deny its historicity. However, although the archaeological record represents an undeniable challenge to traditional interpretations of the Biblical record, there is sufficient evidence to convince even skeptical archaeologists that the Scriptural account describes a genuine historical exodus event.

This research examines the possible historical realities contained in the biblical story of the Exodus. It presents evidence that the Exodus has a historical core reflecting the events and experiences of an Egyptian mining community in the Sinai, Timna, in the middle of the twelfth century BCE. The evidence is elicited from archeological evidence recovered from Timna, critical examination of the biblical sources and the research of scholars pertaining to the historicity of the Bible, ancient Near Eastern history, and contemporary anthropology. Examination of the theorized individual sources of the Exodus tradition is pursued via isolating the elements found in the earliest sources of the Exodus tradition and examining them independently without interpreting them in light of later traditions. The anthropology of contemporary peoples with lifestyles similar to those of antiquity is explored to facilitate the understanding of the cultural norms of people known only from ancient texts and archeological artifacts.

I discuss possible archaeological correlates from the second and first millennia BCE Levant and Egypt—spanning the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, the Iron Age I and II, and the Persian and Hellenistic periods—which may have served as background(s) for the formation, preservation, and transformation of the biblical and extra-biblical Exodus traditions. I will attempt to assess the character and relevance of strands of evidence from diverse periods and contexts and discuss the possible interface, and/or lack thereof, between these artifactually-based cultural events and the various Exodus narratives as reflected in the biblical texts and traditions.

Our paper gives a number of examples of ancient Egyptian sources which seem to have details matching those in Exodus which may confirm that the Exodus was an historical event contrary to claims that there is no evidence for the Exodus being historical.

I have argued throughout this paper that proleptical, etiological and eschatological dimensions of exodus unveil it’s literary and biblical theological function as an exclamation mark within the main biblical storyline. In the first part, I indicated that Genesis might want to offer Abraham’s continual exoduses as an answer to anti-exoduses of God’s shattered creation. In the second part, I showed how literary theological power of exodus helped to shape the DH’s double etiology of Israel’s winning and losing her land. In the third part, I showed how the prophets employed exodus in their troubled historical settings in order to define a vector of hope pointing towards the future redemptive newness. These three applications of exodus can inform our OT theological sensibilities.

The exodus from Egypt played a pivotal role in Jewish-pagan polemics from the beginning of the Hellenistic period till far into the Imperial period. Pagan polemicists stood the biblical story of the liberation of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt upon its head and portrayed an extremely negative image of Israelite origins. They also pictured the Jewish people as misanthropes and atheists. Jewish-Hellenistic authors reacted to these attacks in a wide variety of ways (e.g., novels, drama, philosophical treatise).